Bentwood Birdhouse

Step 2 Modeling the Birdhouse

This birdhouse design is a simple arrangement of four pieces of 8"x12" bendable poplar plywood. I began with a model of the construction made up of 4 pieces of shirt cardboard--a construction material that I remember fondly from my childhood. These are still available from your shirts if you have them boxed and laundered otherwise you can cut them out of "store bought" cardboard. The roof and the floor consist of identical cut designs that hold the curved sides in place. The curved cuts in the cardboard model should be centered mirror images of each other and should not extend further than 1/2" from the edges of the cardboard. The type of curve you draw and model are up to you but the curve must be long enough to accomodate the length of the side pieces. In the model you can cut the slits with a razor-knife in the poplar you will be cutting the slits with a 1/8" rotozip bit that will allow the plywood to slip in.